This is the lie we feed to our children in school. We tell them they can all be whatever they want to be if they work hard enough. Blah blah blah, its not true. It is true if you are somewhat smart and fairly healthy and have a good bit of luck. The truth is there are a lot of people that are not smart, healthy, or lucky. Not everyone starts with the same opportunities. Most do not either take full advantage of them, and some simply just don't have enough. Those of you that really believe this, I think you have been fooled, or are in the category of those who started out a little ahead of the game and think everyone else did too. However, I do think everyone has the opportunity to try his best to be "a have" unfortunately most fail without a boost.
My friend, this is not entirely true. The walls can come crumbling down on even the best of people. Hard-working people who have attained a comfortable retirement and been smart to save wisely. Medical costs can be unimaginable and savings and retirement income can only cover so much. Couple that with trying your hardest to maintain outrageously increased insurance premiums and you soon find yourself not knowing what to do. So you try to pay the increased insurance premiums because you certainly can't afford the full medical costs. But the law of averages eventually catches up when the illnesses are prolonged. Eventually you can't make that insurance payment with all of the ongoing excess medical costs. I suppose this is "making your own luck".
That's not exactly what I was talking about, but I agree that the cost of healthcare can be prohibitive. But everyone screams about the cost of premiums when those are driven by the cost of healthcare. Insurance carriers cannot provide cheaper coverage until the cost of care goes down. This is not a chicken and egg situation.
For many, this is true only to a very limited extent. I'd say the exceptions are far greater than you'd like to admit. People who have to work 2 low-paying jobs to support their families don't exactly have the means to drop everything, enroll in/be accepted to college, and graduate with a bachelor's degree. And kids who go to terrible schools and whose parents never stress the importance of education are at a distinct disadvantage. My friend, it sounds an awful lot like you're arguing that the problem with healthcare isn't that it's unaffordable for many, it's that many people are just too damn lazy to improve their situations enough so that they can afford it. I realize that. But my point is, if their product sucks so bad, then no one will want to use it except for the people that absolutely have to. So what if private insurance companies have to lower their prices to compete? The government has no obligation to maximize the profits of private entities, and certainly not at the expense of pain & suffering of millions of it's own citizens. Private insurance companies could still offer their decidedly better product at a higher price, and they'd still make a killing (no pun intended).
times sure have changed from when you had a libertarian party thingamabob in your sig. pretty sure you didnt really know what it meant at the time. sounded cool though.
I'm not concerned about the private industry's ability to compete with a government plan - UNLESS the government plan specifically reduces the private industry's ability to compete. Otherwise, insurance companies, doctors, and pharmaceutical companies will be able to offer a better product. It will cost more, but those that want the option will have it.
Actually, some of us understand all too well that both health care and insurance costs are highly inflated. Just see my previous post. I'm just annoyed reading some comments that people make. It's not as cut and dry as they want it to be. Many people in this country literally have no control over their medical fates. Despite their best efforts and doing everything right their entire lives.
